Hitting the Road
by Jaybird16
Summary: Young ninja Setsuna has had her heart broken. The first man she has ever loved, Gin, was killed by a group of mercenaries. She goes through a dark time and hunts down his killers before finally settling into an inn for the night. When her old friend, Sarutobi Sasuke, catches up to her with bad news they kind of have a heart to heart. Could have been K but for safety went T.


Alright guys, this is my first story here on and the first one I've put up on any site in a very long time.  
The story takes place between Sarutobi Sasuke and an OC of mine, Setsuna. Both are ninja and this happened back before the actual story of Sengoku Basara (the show) starts so Sasuke's about 15, 16, something like that and my OC is about the same age. For those that are wondering: no she doesn't like him and he doesn't like her (at least i don't intend for it to seem that way) they're just really close. They've known eachother since they were kids so they have a really strong bond.

For a little backstory on Setsuna: about a month before this story the man she fell in love with, Gin, was killed by a group of mercenaries. Since then she's hunted down and killed that group and is now making her way back to her village.

**Depending on what you guys think I might write a series of oneshots about my OC interacting with some of the others characters that happens during the series. _She has quite the intersting past, and future._**  
**Comment and let me know if you think that could be interesting! Also, let me know how my characterization of Sasuke went. Does it seem like the character? Hope you enjoy the story!**

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I small creaking sound suddenly filled my dark, quiet room. My brows furrowed in confusion as I wondered what might have caused it. The creaking sounded again. I listened more intently now, and the sound came again. Automatically going on the defensive I grabbed a small blade from where it lay beside my bed and pressed myself against the wall closest to the door.

Quietly, I waited for the intruder to make his way closer. As soon as he passed the wall I'd have him at my mercy. Just as I hoped the intruder finally came into range and better yet, did not seem to expect me to be awake considering it was the middle of the night. As soon as he passed me I moved quickly behind him, whipping my blade into a ready position. As soon as it pressed against his throat the intruder became still.

"If you don't want to die I suggest you put your hands in the air. Now."

Slowly, he raised both hands so they were above his head.

"Alright then," I continued, "so, who are you and what're you doing here?"

He didn't respond to my question, instead he asked one of his own.

"Tsuna?" a painfully familiar voice asked quietly.

I paused, even on my death bead I would know that voice.

"Sasuke?" I questioned as I removed my blade from his throat, "Sarutobi Sasuke!"

"Hey." he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning to one side as he turned to face me.

"Hey, yourself." I joked, wiping away a stray tear that had managed to make its way down my cheek at the sight of him. Sasuke was my best friend and one of the only ones in our clan that knew my true heritage. Before I'd met Gin, he was the most important person in my life.

"What're you doing all the way out here?" I asked as I lit a small lamp.

"Just got off of a mission a few hours ago." he said, sitting down and leaning back on his hands, "I was coming to find you."

"So fast?" I asked, somewhat surprised. Most people would wait at least a day or two to rest before going off on any personal missions or even another assigned one, "Why didn't you rest first?"

He was quiet for a moment before saying, quietly, "Because, there was something important I needed to tell you…"

Noticing his sudden change in his expression I made my way back to his side and sat very close to him, "What could be that important?"

"It's nothing." he said quickly changing topics, "Where were you headed anyway?"

"I was coming back to the village, now what was it Sasuke?"

"Tsuna…" he said slowly.

"You know you can't hide things from me," I reminded him, "so I don't know why you're trying."

"You're gonna hate me for this…" he said quietly, sitting up and crossing his arms.

"Sasuke," I whispered, hurt, as I held his face in both my hands, "you know just as well as I do that you could never do anything to make me hate you."

He looked me up and down slowly, his face becoming serious before he finally said, "The men who sent the mercenaries after that man you were with–"

"How do you know about that?" I asked quickly. I hadn't sent him word about Gin because I feared on the clan leaders would find out.

"They were sent by the clan leaders." he finished.

His words froze me. The clan had had Gin killed? The clan had killed the only man I'd felt any sort of romantic link to?

Slowly I responded with a feeble, "What!?

Sasuke said nothing as he continued to let the reality of that statement settle in.

I stopped my thoughts in my tracks, if I let them continue I'd break down right now. To distract myself I searched for something in the room to occupy my mind. My eyes quickly began to take in Sasuke's state. I quickly realized that he didn't seem to particularly bothered by this news.

"How long have you known?" I asked slowly.

He was hesitant to answer, but, finally he said, "Since they made the decision to kill him."

"Sasuke, that must have been over a month ago!" I snapped, jumping to my feet, "A month! Why didn't you say anything!?"

"I know, I'm sorry!" he defended, moving to his feet as well, "I meant to get to you when I first found out, I would've done whatever you needed me too, but they caught me before I could leave. They gave me a mission that they wouldn't let me decline. Once I was on the team the others wouldn't let me out of their site… I know I'm late and I'm sorry!"

An unusually tense silence hung in the air between us for a long time. I was incapable of saying anything and it seemed that Sasuke simply would not.

"Please, tell the clan leaders I won't be coming back."

"What!?" was his surprised response, "Tsuna wait!"

"Sasuke, I can't go back there! Not after what they did!" I snapped knowing what he was going to ask before he could.

"I know how you must feel, but, reconsider this for a minute."

"What is there to reconsider!?"

"The minute you fell in love with this guy you knew exactly the kind of risk you were taking." he said quickly, "You knew that if you got involved with someone so close to your target that the clan would do what was necessary to move your progress along."

"Then why not have someone come speak with me about it. I would've moved up the timetable if I'd known."

"You know just as well as I do you didn't have a timetable Setsuna."

To that, I would not reply. He was right. Once I'd really begun to fall for Gin I'd pretty much forgotten about my mission. I'd really only been focused on him and that is what had gotten him killed.

Suddenly, Sasuke sighed and said tensely, "They let your friendship with the Vagabond of the Maeda slide–"

"His name's Keiji."

"–but only because you kept moving and continued to fulfill your missions. The minute you stopped and settled down with that guy they lost their patience. They gave you time to fulfill your mission and when you didn't, they made their own move."

Again I was silent. I'd always known that it was a possibility that the clan might send someone to bring me home and complete my mission but I'd never really expected them to do so, let alone kill Gin.

"You can't let something like this keep you away from us, please come back with me to the village. I'm sure the clan leaders will go easy on you."

"Sasuke, I–"

"Tsuna, please." he begged, taking my hands in both of his, "I need you to come back."

Unwillingly, my eyes met with his and I could see all his worry there. There was a reason Sasuke and I weren't often apart when we weren't on assignment and this was it. We were far too close, after all of these years we'd become an integral part of each others' lives. We cared deeply for each other, both physically and emotionally. When I'd been with Keiji, and later Gin, I'd been so distracted and so rarely alone that I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed Sasuke. He on the other hand hadn't had that, or so I assumed. When I wasn't around he probably had been worrying about how I was.

Suddenly, I felt an aching pain coarse from my heart.

"I can't." I whispered, slipping my hand out of his, "I can't trust the clan leaders, not after something like this."

I couldn't tell him that I needed to be away from him. I couldn't tell him that the fact that he cared about me hurt and seeing that caring look in his eye made my heart ache. I couldn't tell him, I wouldn't.

"Then trust _me_." he continued, "I'll watch out for you, I can protect you."

"I do trust you Sasuke but, I–I couldn't ask you to do that. Making you the middle man for me would just put you in danger and I couldn't bear that. I couldn't bear knowing that you'd be in danger because I'm somewhere I don't really want to be in the first place. I have to go, there's no other choice..."

"Then let me come with you." he said, grabbing my shoulders.

I simply looked at him in surprise, I hadn't really thought of him coming along.

"You're my best friend, right?" he said with a grin, "I can't let you do something dangerous like this without some kind of back up."

"Sasuke," I said quietly, "your future is with the village and you'll go on to be a great ninja, I know it. Me on the other hand, my future is elsewhere. Where exactly it'll be I can't say for sure, but, I know it has to be the place for me."

"I can't let you go…" he said, pulling me to his chest.

"I know, I don't want to leave you either, but, I must." I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist.

I wasn't lying I really didn't want to go. Even under the threat of death while on a mission Sasuke had probably been the most stable part of my entire life. He'd always been there for me and if he had his way, I was sure he always would be.

Unexpectedly, he conceded. "Alright," he'd exhaled, "but promise to be careful."

Untangling myself from him I looked up at him in surprise.

"That was actually easier than I thought." I finally remarked as it was the only thing I could think to say. I hadn't really expected him to give his consent to this, at least not any time soon.

"I'm only letting you go because I'm sure I'll see you again soon." he told me.

I only looked at him in surprise. When I thought of Sarutobi Sasuke I thought realist, never optimist.

"After everything we've been through we've still always managed to find one another no matter how bad things seemed. I'm hoping the same will prove true here."

I had to quickly brush away the tears that came to my eyes. "Thank you." I said, rising to my tip-toes and kissing his cheek.

He shook his head and said, "Go on before I start thinking straight again and try and convince you to stay."

"I'll see you around Sasuke." I said with a smile before finally grabbing my bag and leaving my old friend's presence.


End file.
